Takeout Boxes, Ice Cream Cones and Red Hair Dye
by maximumFANGirl
Summary: My version of Max and Fang's first date. Three-shot.
1. Second Thoughts

**I've written a lot of fanfic, but this my my first story I've posted. This is set in MAX (aka-book 5) Chapter 41, when Fang asks her to dinner. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: As much as I've begged and pleaded with him, James Patterson refuses to give me ownership of any of his work. Therefore, I don't own anything Maximum Ride.**

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I threw on a fresh pair of jeans and the first t-shirt I saw. I shook my hair out in the mirror, and then combed through it with my fingers. I know, not exactly as effective as a hair straightener or some styling gel or even just a brush. But this is me we're talking about. I wasn't exactly comfortable with stuff like that. You know, stuff that normal girls my age do everyday.

God, was I glad I wasn't normal.

I took a deep breath, in and out, and looked at my reflection in the mirror. My face was clean, (basically) my hair was brushed, (sort of) and I didn't have any blood splatters on my clothes (bonus!). Yep, Fang had definitely picked a good day for our first date.

Oh. My. God. Date. It wasn't really a date, I tried to convince myself. It was just me and a guy who was totally into me having dinner, together, by ourselves.

Oh, Crap. That was definitely a date.

My stomach dropped like a rock, well, you know, drops. I mean, it's a rock. Their pretty heavy. Okay, so maybe I wasn't great at analogies, but you get the point.

How did I let myself get into this? I couldn't go through with it. I would just have to go up to Fang and tell him I had changed my mind. I was obviously partly crazy at the time when I had agreed to this. I mean, I wasn't interested in Fang and there was no reason to pretend I was.

I took in another deep breath and stepped out into the hallway where Fang had said he would meet me. I bit my lip nervously, leaning up against the wall.

Finally, Fang appeared at the end of the hall. He was walking toward me, his pace quickening with every step he took. Quickening to come and see me.

One look into those dark, mysterious, captivating eyes and I knew I couldn't blow off our date. Fang would be absolutely crushed. I had finally given him what he'd wanted all this time; I couldn't take it away now. I looked back at him, determined to go on this date. I was going to be the unselfish one, swallowing my feelings for his.

But then something changed.

Instead of looking at his eyes, I was looking in them. I could see their depth, I could see his feelings. I could see fear and nervousness and maybe even love. Then I realized that I didn't want to go this date because of Fang, it was because of me.

Looking into Fang's eyes, I couldn't wait for him to hold me in his arms and for him to kiss me again. Oh God, I just couldn't wait. A huge smile popped onto my face when Fang reached me. He seemed a bit taken aback by it so I managed to stomach it.

"Ready?" He asked me. I nodded. He put out his hand and I grabbed it cautiously. He squeezed mine and pulled me out the door, into the night's darkness. I was instantly hit with a cool breeze.

The whole flock loved cold weather. I mean, not like icy tundra like in the artic or even snow. We preferred beaches and swimming. But a cool wind was always nice, it was an excuse to wear a jacket which made it a teensy bit easier to hide our wings.

I shivered, but only partly because of the cold.

Tonight was going to be fun.

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**Alright, I hoped you liked it! Reviews are awesome! I'll post the next chapter really soon.**


	2. Eating Out

**Okay, here's the second chapter, as promised, my personal favorite of the three. **

**Wow, over a hundred reads, that's so awesome, a huge thanks to anyone who gave my story a chance. And an even bigger thanks to my reviewers. I never knew how important they were until put up my own story. It totally makes my day!**

**But I'm babbling now, you came here to read, so go ahead!**

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An hour and a half later, Fang and I were sitting on a bench, eating takeout from the restaurant around the corner where we had eaten dinner. Or at least, part of it.

To avoid the "incident" that happened in New York the last time we had tried to eat at a fancy restaurant, we were taking the precaution of eating "regular" sized meals, leaving some leftovers, getting a takeout box, and then devouring everything in the box once we were around the corner.

Repeat three times.

Look, we're not pigs or anything, but we have wings. We fly. It kinda burns some calories. I mean, talk about a cardio workout. Plus, I mean, we didn't always know where our next meal was coming from. We didn't eat light if we had the choice.

After we had both devoured every last scraping left in our takeout boxes, I leaned back on the bench.

I could feel my nerves creeping up on me again. I didn't like just sitting there, just time to talk, and nothing else to do.

But like always, Fang could read my mind. He shot one of his half-grins at me. "Up for some ice cream?"

Five minutes later, Fang and I were both weighed down by an ice cream cone and Fang was five dollars and forty-six cents poorer.

I didn't know where he was getting money from, but it was certainly brightening my day. You should know the way to my heart is through my stomach.

It was probably Angel's money, I realized, my poker-cheating darling. She'd probably given it up easy, too. That six-year-old certainly had a vivid interest in my love life.

I giggled to myself at the thought of it. I, Maximum Ride, genetically altered half-bird kid created for the sole purpose of saving the world had a love life. Take that, Whitecoats. I'm pretty sure they hadn't programmed that one in.

I ate the last bite of my ice cream cone, licking my fingers. I glanced over at Fang to see that he had finished already. He looked up when he felt my eyes on him.

"Glad you decided to join me again." Fang said. "I mean, I know I'm not much of a talker, but you ditching me to talk to the voice in your head, it kind of hurts."

I rolled my eyes at him and I tried to push him off the bench through the railing on the pier into the ocean below. He barely moved. He had gotten strong; I hadn't realized how strong until now.

"Well you should know," I pointed out, "That my voice and I have a very interesting conversations. We can talk about anything, we never run out of subjects. We're very happy together."

Fang shrugged. "Well, I'm glad you told me, you know, before things got serious. Now if you excuse me, I have things to do, people to see." He got up and started to walk off toward a six-foot model-like red-head.

I grabbed his arm. "Don't you dare." I warned him. "You're stuck here with me." He sat back down. "Look, Max, I'm trying to concentrate on you, but it's hard. Maybe if you dyed your hair red it would be easier."

I'd been smiling and joking till now, but when Fang said that, my blood froze and my smile disappeared.

"What?" I asked him icily.

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***gasp* Will this ruin Max and Fang's date?**

**Will Fang start dating that convieniently-placed red-head?**

**Will Fang and the red-head fall in love and have a kid named Tooth?***

**You'll have to wait and see. I'll put up the last chapter soon and all will be revealed!**

***I do not know why some many people want Fang's kid to be called Tooth! Okay, I get it and all, but, really?**


	3. The Blowup

**Here's the last part of the story, so it is now complete. Enjoy!**

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_Previously:_

_I grabbed his arm. "Don't you dare." I warned him. "You're stuck here with me." He sat back down. "Look, Max, I'm trying to concentrate on you, but it's hard. Maybe if you like, dyed your hair red it would be easier."_

_"What?" I asked him icily._

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Fang's face changed. "No, Max, I didn't mean it like that. You know that. You don't understand!"

I stood up, my cheeks burning. "No, Fang, I know exactly what you mean. The only thing I don't understand is why I was stupid enough to come out here with you!"

I was shouting now. I got up to leave, but Fang grabbed my arm.

"Max, listen to me for just a minute." His eyes pleaded me.

"No,_ Fang_." I said, pulling my arm out of his reach. "I'm not interested in listening to you right now. Why don't you go back to the base and talk to Brigid instead? I'm sure she's waiting with ears wide open!"

I almost winced after that. I couldn't believe I was admitting my jealousy to Fang of all people, although if I thought about it, I guess I would have realized I wouldn't have admitted it to anyone.

Fang stood up, taking a step closer to me. I hated the fact that I had to look up to see his eyes.

"Oh my God, Max, you are so, so…" Fang didn't finish, but his eyes were blazing. I'd never seen Fang so mad-ever. Usually, Fang showing this much anger would have stopped me dead in my tracks. But there was no stopping me now.

"So what?" I asked, making my tone as tough as steel, shoving every bit of my anger towards Fang into my tone.

"SO STUPID!" He erupted. I took a step back.

Fang and I had fought before, like cats and dogs, and he'd called me bossy, pushy, and whole lot of other stuff, which was all true. But he had never called me stupid. And that hurt. It felt like someone had ripped me open and pulled out some of my essential organs.

fFang's expression softened. "Max, can I just say this once and for the record, I do NOT like Brigid. How can you still think that?" he asked me, but he wasn't shouting anymore. "After everything I've done, everything I've told you."

I lowered my voice, so he couldn't hear how upset I was getting. "Yeah, you've done a lot, like, say, making out with that girl in Virginia, that really made me feel special. And when you told me how awesomely amazing and hot Brigid is, oh wait, you didn't tell me that, you just posted that on the freaking web!"

My eyes were locked on Fang, taking in his every movement.

"Max. I don't know what to do with you! If I even talk to another girl you send me death glares. But when I try to talk to you, you say that there's nothing between us or you run off. I took that to mean that you didn't like me, Max. So I tried to move on. I tried dating that girl in Virginia; I've tried hanging out with Brigid. But I always come back to thinking about you, Max. I don't care about them, just you, no matter how much I try not to!"

I stared at Fang. My mouth was hanging open but I didn't even make an effort to close it. That was the longest, loudest, angriest, most revealing thing Fang had ever said. I was in shock, and for the first time I had absolutely no idea what to say to smooth the situation over.

This situation could not be smoothed over. Not even with a freaking steamroller.

I tried to come up with something to say, but my mind was blank. Fang loved me. I had known that he liked me all this time but oh my God, Fang had just straight out admitted that he loved me.

And then I realized how awesome that was. How awesome it was that this incredibly frustrating, silent guy loved me.

And I loved him back. And I wanted this fight to be over, and I wanted to be in his arms and I wanted to be kissing him again, just like that night in the desert. I came back to reality when Fang touched me, wrapping his arms around me in a hug as tears started to steam down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry." Fang said softly. "But I can't stand this, me and you fighting all the time. I can't stand not knowing what's going on between us."

I took a deep breath. "You don't have to." I told him, and he pulled back his head, surprised.

"I love you." I spit it out, right then and there, and I stood on my tiptoes, put my arms around his neck, and kissed him. And if you think kissing is awesome, wait until you try it with someone you are completely and utterly head over heels in love with.

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I hope you liked it! Personally, I don't think I'm very good at writing romantic stuff, so I don't really like this chapter.

**So I'll be moving onto new stories. I have a few stories that I've started, so hopefully you'll read them when I put them on here.**

**Oh, I** **can tell you about one story I'm working on-it's about the flock having a contest so each of them can kick their bad habits. More of a humor story, which I like, and it has all the flock in it. (Yay!)**

**So see ya soon,**

**maximumFANGirl**


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